Florida to The Bahamas in small boat 

You hit the nail on the head friend! It's funny how we tend to complicate things as humans and forget how things once were.... the "more is better" mentality has taken over nowadays. hearing how you guys did trips on a 22 cc takes me back and it's exactly what I was fortunate enough to see and experience growing up in south florida. Hat's off to your family for showing you "the way", sounds like we were both extremly lucky to have such experiences. Back then you actually worked on your own boats/ kept them maintained and knew the systems in and out, you naturally progressed as an ocean man and became familiar with your vessel and waters. You paired up with some buddies and made the crossing when the weather was right, if something happened you made it work, and relied on one another. Technology was minimal and you relied on planning, preparation, learning, experience from elders and with YOURSELF and you didn't do things to gain validation from a social media driven group of strangers. You did it for yourself because you were drawn to it and it truly made us happy! It's why our families and friends did it and it was the way! I get a bit of comments here , and also from friends /family thinking i'm off my rocker, and maybe there's a little truth to that haha, but the reality is i'm doing things that have been done many times before, by folks we grew up idolizing and who make me honestly feel like an inexperienced 45 year old kid at times haha. The benefit we have , I have, is that technology has improved vastly and while I use a compass for a majority of my travels, I still have tucked away in a dry/ditch bag my communications/epirb/inflatable pool raft, water, mirror, strobe, and fins, along with some other goodies. At the end of the day I look at it very simply, folks have crossed the atlantic in boats under 10ft in length. I'm making a short crossing, and if the Ocean gods decide to deal me with a card i'm unprepared for or cant handle, I trust my experience and training to make the right decisions and stay calm, and truthfully.... 'm okay floating in the gulf stream on a raft with drinking water , communications and signal devices until my friends arrive. Just as we relied on frineds by buddy boating years ago, I still rely on my network based on land both Bahamas and Stateside. :) I'll be getting into this topic/ sharing in detail the process and logistics of my trips in an upcoming video. I appreciate as always your comments and sharing your awesome Bahamas experiences with us. Cheers!

Amen to that Chip! Cheers!

Dang Joseph, I’m genuinely interested in hearing more about this and would love to talk sometime about. Putting ourselves in vulnerable positions leads to humbleness and powerful growth, and fast. Cheers to you my friend and thank you for watching.

Austin right on! Serious props and my hats off to you amigo. Folks will never truly get it/ embrace it until they’ve done it. It’s pretty magical! Cheers

Haha. I appreciate it Joey amd thanks for watching!. I’d say It’s more solid planning / experience/ and comfort to trust myself to make the right decisions rather then larger then average testicles. Lol 😂. Cheers buddy!

I don’t think you’re from Florida

Would be willing to bet you ain’t making that crossing solo in a small skiff

Twin screws for the ocean or im out.

I guess my 25 foot walkaround deep V cruiser will be okay for that crossing after all...

Amigo! Wow, thank you so much for sharing this all with me. This just made my day. 🙌🏼 I’m so glad you found the channel and I’m happy to hear you’re considering something for the water! You’re not far from me and there’s a couple friends I have up your way I’d love to connect you to if you go the boat route or are just wanting some boating experience 👊🏼. Look us up on FB “diy Waterworld” and let’s connect! Cheers Luis!

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Man you have no idea how much fun and relaxing it is, I do this on an inflatable 13 foot boat with a 20hp Mercury motor, it’s awesome. Can’t have a full size boat on a trailer.

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Hey Luis. Did you ever get into boating? I hope you are out there doing it man. This video gives my inspiration to do the crossing one day myself. We purchased a much bigger boat last Fall (but it's still not a giant and has no deep V). Louis I hope to see you out there buddy. God bless anyone reading this message. 🌞🏝️🛥️😎🤙🐟

Thank you so much Cody, i'm stoked you appreciate the channel / these videos and the oddity it is haha! thanks for sharing your own great vibes! cheers!

Cheers my man! 👊🏼 and right?! This works is brainwashed into thinking we need to keep up with the “neighbors” to go out and have fun. And when it comes to boats everyone always thinks bigger is better. The sad truth is weekly there are boats WAAAAY bigger then my skiffs that are out in peril / sink / or have massive failures due to completely preventable actions/ maintenance/ decisions. “ it’s the Indian not the arrow”. Cheers buddy! Glad your here

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Hi Christopher, man, this is all awesome. I'm excited for your project, adventure and trip! I'm here anytime you want to reach out with questions/planning. I'm also putting together the ultimate small boat guide/tutorial to crossing open ocean. should be a fun video! cheers!

@@diywaterworld lookin forward to that tutorial

Haha James, I love it man! The only other Collins / Quachita I have seen in Florida was an ugly light green. So ugly in fact it was kickass! Haha. Perhaps it was hog hunters long lost brother! Cheers to having fun on this hull many moons ago brother, sounds like a great time on a great skiff! Cheers snd thanks for sharing!

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Man you just made my morning Michael, thank you SO much for sharing this and your genuine draw to the channel. You have no idea how much your comment and ones like it motivate me to share these builds/adventures. I'll be totally up front, the skiff building and adventures are the easy part.... attempting to document them and then the exhausting loooong hrs going through footage and editing/sound/etc... thats the full time work and many times i'm beating my head against this old laptop cursing the content gods haha, but what i do is read back through comments and YOU all literally pick me up/kick me in the ass/ and motivate me to continue moving forward striving to make the next video better then the last. Cheers buddy and thanks again for sharing!

Amen to that! The ocean is indeed the great humbler ! I appreciate the positive energy and stoked you dig the builds/videos. Thanks so much for sharing! Cheers!

Right on! Stoked you found us and thankful for your sub and kickass energy! Cheers!!

haha, thanks William! I'm glad you liked this latest video and I appreciate the input as well as look forward to bringing you more of both! Cheers!

Thank you so much Paul for watching, commenting and appreciating the video! Documenting these trips/builds is way harder then it looks hahah, and your comment is a great motivator! cheers!

Heck yes Olavi! 👊🏼 you know it buddy. Thanks for following along ! Cheers!

Thanks so much Robert , I appreciate you being here and positive energy always! Cheers!

Thank you so much! Less bravery, more trusting myself / experience/ planning. :) cheers!

Thank you so much!!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you Mike, that's the goal with these videos. Cheers buddy!

Oh man I appreciate this comment! I certainly try to be as authentic as possible. This is me. Cheers!

Haha, not quite a legend but I appreciate the awesome energy Tony! Thanks for watching and sharing buddy!

Thank you so much! I appreciate you sharing!

Thank you so much Josh, I appreciate this and for you watching. I say you start planning ! I’m happy to help along the way! Cheers!

Haha, thanks Jack! I appreciate it so much! Glad you liked the other videos and yes I have soooo much footage, too much really! Perhaps in the near future I will put together a more detailed video of Sweetings Cay / East End Grand Bahama! And haha, good eye! I have a rod holder but no fishing rod lol. I pretty much just spearfish for fish while i'm there, a simple hawaiian sling does the trick! Cheers buddy!

Thank you Jason! that's the best compliment I could ever get! I'm glad youre here for the journey! cheers!

Haha, thank you Salty Brood! Much appreciated, I can't wait to collab someday soon ! cheers!

@@diywaterworld looking foward to it!!

Hahaha. Perhaps a little… 😅. Glad you enjoyed it! Cheers!

Right on Paul! I appreciate the positive energy buddy and hell yes! The more the merrier! Cheers!

Thank you so much, I sincerely appreciate you sharing this great energy and outlook. And i love hearing that you're going to pursue your own adventures in a project boat with your son! that's music to my ears! Cheers and be sure to checkout our FB group when you are ready to start/share your adventures! Cheers!

Thank you Danny! I appreciate this and share the same sentiment! Repurposing is my core love in building skiffs, the challenge, fun, and cheap price haha are some of the things I love about these builds! Good thing is there's no shortage and I have some really fun and funky builds coming your way! cheers and thanks for the positive energy!

Access to the resource is what it's all about. It's not really about the boat, it's about the beauty of nature.

Maurice my man! Thanks so much friend, one of these days our paths will cross and we’ll share an adventure together. Thanks so much for the awesome energy , kind words and love for the channel. Cheers!

Thank you so much, you’re the first person to ever comment about that music , it gave me chills when I first heard it and I almost cried, for the simple reason that it truly embodies what I felt during those moments. Hard to explain, but I thank you for this comment tremendously. Cheers!

Thank you so much for sharing this and the positive energy towards the channel! What kind of project do you have? Take some photos and share them with us on our new FB group , I’ll help any way I can to guide and help get you started buddy! I’ll mail you some grinding discs as motivation!! Seriously! Cheers and I hope to see you on FB!

thanks so much Jonathan! I'm glad you found the channel and enjoying the videos! And haha, We're neighbors! cheers buddy!

Rock on Philthy! Much appreciated!

Hi Pepper guy, the entire trip was actually around 400 miles. One way was a little over 170 miles, then a couple weeks of exploring. In total in the high 300+ mile range. On this last day of travel I traveled about 20 miles in the morning from Lucaya to West End. Then departed at 12:00 for the 6 hr Open ocean ,from West End to Jupiter... then Stuart was around 100 miles. hope this helps! And cheers, only way to do these is to chill/and have a calm clear mind!

thank you?! 😂haha. No really, i appreciate it bud! Glad you enjoyed the vid!

Hahaha! I love it! 👊🏼Stoked to have you here Homie!

Haha, thanks Phillip. 🙏🏼. But the truth is that I’ve got tremendous faith in many important factors when it comes to making these trips. Faith in…my gear, planning, tools, experience, training and most of all myself to know when to say when and if shit hits the fan… to pull through. Cheers friend!

Thank you so much, to most channels they think of one subscriber as well…. Just one person. But I learned years ago in teaching Freediving that you never know, 1 person could walk into a class, change your life, empower others , inspire or could be someone you help guide, influence, jumpstart a new passion in life. We all are floating around on this earth and you just never know the impact we all can have on one another. I share here because I’ve always loved paying it forward, inspiring, but the selfish truth is that I also take so much from everyone here with your awesome comments , wether it be sharing an idea , or sharing an experience , or pushing me outside of my comfort zone. I feel I truly recieve more then I give on this platform. For that I’m thankful.

@@diywaterworld 🏄‍♂️🏄🏄‍♀️🏄

Thank you buddy! Much love for your home/country!

Thanks so much Rob! I’ll admit I chuckled reading this haha. Yes, alive and continuing the adventures ! I’m stoked to have you watching! Cheers !

Thank you so much for sharing this. I'm happy to have you watching and enjoying the videos. And man, this comment, it's what it's about buddy, making the best with what we have available, not wanting what others have. Being proud of that brings the ultimate reward! Cheers to home built!

Cheers Rakeem! I'm trying my hardest buddy, but this whole editing thing is the death of me haha. It'puts a whooping on me everytime! cheers buddy!

Thank you Michael, I appreciate you being here and for sharing. This is my passion indeed, funky repurposed boat builds! cheers!

Haha, I love it! Cheers and thank you so much! I’m just as excited for the next video!

Thanks buddy, much appreciated! Hope to see you sooner then later!

Thanks so much Daniel for sharing this. I value your input tremendously and it seems there’s quite a few of you with similar interests. If you haven’t checked out the newly created Facebook group be sure to swing by. In the upcoming weeks I’m going to be sharing quite a bit of “ how to’s” . Thanks again for the input and I look forward to getting some updates from you on whatever project you lean towards. Cheers!

Thank you so much Michael for sharing, I’m happy you found the channel and are enjoying the videos. Very cool your connection to Stuart , it’s a special place indeed and one I’ve grown to love in the 5 years I’ve been here. Perhaps our paths will cross some day, cheers!

No freaking way!! That’s too funny! I honestly have never seen one in person besides this one. I missed out on one for sake several year’s ago and it always bothered me. Your neighbor is lucky! And man, I really appreciate you sharing this/what you enjoy about the channel. This motivates me to keep plugging along and share even more buddy! Thank you for being here and the great energy you always bring! Cheers!

@@diywaterworld yea ive never seen one of those boats except for my neighbors then i seen yours lol, an you motivate us to build our dreams, seems we all work in a big circle of greatness here, stay blessed Captain !

Thank you so much for commenting / positive energy towards the channel!. I’m stoked you enjoy it! And thank you for sharing, sounds like your boat has been a trooper! Great to hear you’re going to turn it into a new project / give it a new lease on life. Keep me posted! Let me know how your search for manifold / carb goes. I know I’ve got a bunch of intakes I could offer and I’ll double check my 35 hp carb inventory haha. Cheers !

Thanks Wayne! It sure was buddy! I’m happy to be home!

Hey Wayne I’m a big fan

Thanks Michael! Much appreciated and glad to have you here! Cheers!

Right on Nathan, I feel you on that and that’s definitely my CORE for this channel. Trying to stay in the DIY realm of things but share some of the story. It’s all a learning curve and your thoughts are shared by a large group. I aim to keep true to these diy builds buddy! Got any ideas on some style builds you’d like to see?! Thanks for sharing and I appreciate your love for the channel! Cheers!

I’ve got a small 19’ Kevlar bass boat that bags a soft floor spot. Watching you tear into one with confidence and knowledge seems worlds away, but I learn something every time I get to watch. I just like watching you take something that is at the end of its life to most and give it a new breath ready for adventuring. Hope to move to the gulf coast for retirement and build a skiff project of my own to bounce around in Mobile Bay.

Cheers Nathan! I appreciate the feedback and glad to have you here supporting the channel! DIY is in my heart and I look forward to sharing many future builds in the upcoming videos. Cheers

Thank you so much for sharing Oren, i'm glad to have you here along for the ride! and hahaha, i just literally lol, good luck in that search amigo! cheers!

Much appreciated Lance! Always stoked to have you here and for sharing and appreciating these builds / adventures and places! And I couldn’t agree with you more… what more is needed?! Cheers buddy!

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Thank you, I appreciate this a bunch. Your enthusiasm rocks! the reality with these crossings is I do them with / without you tube. They truly resonate within me. It does seem pretty insane ( and for good reason) but the prep / planning/ experience/ safety measures go so much farther then what is shared here. I have been working on a detailed video about these crossings and I hope to release soon. :) cheers my friend!

@@diywaterworld Well Keep the videos coming, they are fun and inspiring! I have a couple of buddies that watch them as well and we all scratch our heads and then say "no way" then we say "wonder what he's going to do next"!

Just a tad haha, but actually pretty smooth all things considered. The swell direction snd interval was in my favor. Otherwise I never would’ve crossed in those conditions. Cheers bud!

. Maybe a little…. 😂😬. Cheers and thank you for watching/ commenting!